March 12—Last day to place a player on unconditional release waivers and pay 30 days termination pay instead of 45 days.

March 22-23—Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona, Sydney.

March 26—Last day to request unconditional release waivers on a player without having to pay his full 2014 salary.

March 30—Opening day for other teams. Active rosters reduced to 25 players.

June 5—Amateur draft.

July 15—All-Star game, Minneapolis.

July 18—Deadline for amateur draft picks to sign.

July 27—Hall of Fame inductions, Cooperstown, N.Y.

July 31—Last day to trade a player without securing waivers.

Sept. 1—Active rosters expand to 40 players.

Sept. 30—Postseason begins.

Oct. 22—World Series begins.

November TBA—Deadline for teams to make qualifying offers to their eligible former players who became free agents, fifth day after World Series.

November TBA—Deadline for free agents to accept qualifying offers, 12th day after World Series.

Dec. 2—Last day for teams to offer 2015 contracts to unsigned players.

Dec. 8-11—Winter meetings, San Diego.

Basketball

NBA

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

d-Indiana 23 5 .821 —

d-Miami 21 6 .778 1½

Atlanta 15 13 .536 8

d-Toronto 11 15 .423 11

Charlotte 14 15 .483 9½

Washington 12 13 .480 9½

Detroit 14 16 .467 10

Boston 12 17 .414 11½

Chicago 10 16 .385 12

Cleveland 10 17 .370 12½

New York 9 18 .333 13½

Brooklyn 9 18 .333 13½

Philadelphia 8 20 .286 15

Orlando 8 20 .286 15

Milwaukee 6 22 .214 17

WESTERN CONFERENCE

d-Portland 23 5 .821 —

Oklahoma City 22 5 .815 ½

d-San Antonio 22 6 .786 1

d-L.A. Clippers 20 9 .690 3½

Phoenix 17 10 .630 5½

Houston 18 11 .621 5½

Dallas 16 12 .571 7

Golden State 16 13 .552 7½

Denver 14 13 .519 8½

L.A. Lakers 13 15 .464 10

Minnesota 13 15 .464 10

New Orleans 12 14 .462 10

Memphis 12 15 .444 10½

Sacramento 8 19 .296 14½

Utah 8 23 .258 16½

d-division leader

Tuesday's games

No games scheduled

Wednesday's games

Chicago at Brooklyn, 12 p.m.

Oklahoma City at New York, 2:30 p.m.

Miami at L.A. Lakers, 5 p.m.

Houston at San Antonio, 8 p.m.

L.A. Clippers at Golden State, 10:30 p.m.

Thursday's games

Atlanta at Cleveland, 7 p.m.

Memphis at Houston, 8 p.m.

San Antonio at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.

L.A. Clippers at Portland, 10:30 p.m.

Calendar

Jan. 6—10-day contracts can be signed.

Jan. 10—Contracts guaranteed for rest of season.

Feb. 14-16—All-Star weekend, New Orleans.

Feb. 20—Trade deadline, 3 p.m. EST.

April 16—Last day of regular season.

April 19—Playoffs begin.

May 20—Draft lottery.

June 5—NBA Finals begin.

June 16—Draft early entry withdrawal deadline.

June 26—NBA draft.

College Men

Wednesday's Games

SEC—South Carolina vs. Akron at Honolulu, Hawaii, 6:30 p.m.

TOP 25—No. 14 Iowa St. vs. Boise St. at Honolulu, Hawaii, 8:30

College Women

USA Today/Coaches Poll

The top 25 teams in the USA Today Women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 23, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:

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